China’s One Belt One Road initiative is an ambitious infrastructure plan across 68 countries in Central Asia and Russia. Global Finance has devoted a supplement to exploring the financial impact of the massive project, including its effect on China’s currency, the renminbi. China has pledged over $100 billion to the initiative, but it also involves a range of global financial institutions and multilateral agencies including the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The Belt and Road Initiative provides an opportunity for China to encourage the increasing use of the renminbi in global transactions. Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam and India are increasingly using renminbi for trade settlement. The Belt and Road countries are expected to to use the renminbi as a reserve currency in the future.